The Sahara

The name Sahara derives from the Arabic word for "desert" or "steppe". At 3. 5 million square miles，an area roughly the size of the United States，the Sahara Desert in northern Africa is the largest desert in the world. lt spans the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. Daytime temperatures can reach as high as 130°F. The humidity sometimes gets into the teens. But it can also be as low as 2. 5 percent，the lowest in the world. Most of the Sahara receives less than five inches of rain per year，while large areas sometimes have no rainfall at all for years.

At the heart of the Sahara is the landlocked north African country of Niger. Here the sand dunes can be 100 feet tall and several miles long. Here sand plains stretch over an area larger than Germany where there is neither water nor towns. Yet sitting in the midst of the surrounding desert is the town of Bilma. Suddenly there are pools of cIear water. Surprisingly，there are groves of date palms. Underground water resources，or oases，sufficient to support irrigated agriculture are found in dry stream beds and depressions. Irrigation ditches run off a creek to water fields. Corn，cassava，tea，peanuts，hot peppers，and orange，lime，and grapefruit trees grow in these fields. Donkeys and goats graze on green grass.

The Sahara of Niger is still a region where you can see a camel caravan of 500 camels tied together in loose lines as long as a mile，traveling toward such oasis towns. There a caravan will collect life-sustaining salt，which is mined from watery basins，and transport it up to 400 miles back to settlements on the edges of the desert. The round trip across the vast sands takes one month.

詞匯：

Humidity n. 濕度

irrigate v. 灌溉

stretch v. 伸展

camel n. 駱駝

date palms n. 椰棗樹

注釋：

1. Underground water resources，or oases，sufficient to support irrigated agriculture are found in dry stream beds and depressions. 在干河床和洼地處可找到充足的地下水資源或者綠洲來支持灌溉農業。

2. Irrigation ditches run off a creek to water fields. 灌溉溝渠通過一條小溪到達水田中。

3. Donkeys and goats graze on green grass. 青草上放養著驢和山羊。

練習：

1. This passage is mostly about _______.

A) life in the Sahara

B) the deserts of Africa

C) Bilma

D) how camels travel in the desert

2. Rainfall in most of the Sahara is_______.

A) less than five inches per year

B) less than ten inches per year

C) less than twenty inches per year

D) zero

3. The Sahara can be described as_______.

A) a place of contrasts

B) a place where no one Iives

C) an area where the winters are cold

D) an area that appeals to many tourists

4. The phrase "an area roughly the size of the United States" gives an indication of the size of_______.

A) northern Africa

B) Niger

C) the Sahara

D) all of Africa

5. In this passage caravan means _______.

A) traveling circus

B) group traveling together through difficult country

C) railroad train

D) a small，fast sailing ship

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（責任編輯：vstara）

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